I will take my flight from Stockholm to Khon Kaen next month and I am planning to travel to Lao with my dad for 3-4 days. We will take a bus from Khon Kaen to Lao, I think. I am exciting. I have never been to Lao before.

Do you have any tips about Lao? Thanks in advance naja.

umm... for my idea I think just use Laos money carefully...coz it's quite confuse for me

I heard that it's better to do the exchange from Bangkok or maybe if you don't have time you also can do it at the bank in Vientiane (it's more safe) . . and try to use Laos money. Everything over there is negotiable

umm... for my idea I think just use Laos money carefully...coz it's quite confuse for me

I heard that it's better to do the exchange from Bangkok or maybe if you don't have time you also can do it at the bank in Vientiane (it's more safe) . . and try to use Laos money. Everything over there is negotiable

Thank you ja....

you are welcome ka

I travel in Laos very much. Don't worry about changing money. The only thing you will need Laos money for is if you go remote. All the main tourist towns take US dollars, Thai Baht, or Laos kip in that order of preference. If your dad is coming from The USA, have him bring US dollars ($35.00 each for both of you) for the Laos visa. If you pay in US dollars it is $35, if you pay in Thai baht it is bt1500, and at the current exchange rate of 30bt to the dollar, you save about $15US each if you pay in US dollars. Any other money is suspect, and exchanged first, so not worth as much. You get your visa at the border, and a Thai needs a passport, and visa if you go into Laos farther than just on the border towns.

You are really not giving yourself much time in Laos. You will spend all your time on the bus traveling if you go anywhere other than Vientaine right across the border at Nong Khai over the friendship bridge.

The place most go to is LuangPraBang. It is the World Heritege site in Laos, and right on the Mekong, but it will take you a full day up, and a full day back to Vientaine on the bus, then you will only have a day there. It is not worth going for that short of a time. You'll just sleep from the bus ride.

You want to spend at least 3 days there to see what is on offer. That puts you at 5 days just in Laos, not counting the time it will take you going from Khon Kaen (about 5 hours to the border).

Any place else you go runs into the same time, and travel problem, 2 of your days spent just on the bus rides to get to, and back from anywhere. If you fly then that changes, as it is only a few hours to anywhere in Laos on LaoAirways. They are safe now that they don't use the Russian planes anymore.

If you can schedule the time foor a 6-7 day trip into Laos, you will have a much better time showing your dad the country.

From Vientaine you take the bus to LuangPraBang, see the Pak Oue Cave, then the waterfall the next day. It the morning at 6:00am you take him outside to see the procession of Monks for morning alms. There are 4 Monk schools in LuangPraBang so about 100-200 monks going around in the morning. Then right after that at 7:00am there is the morning fresh market until 9:30am. Then it is to the cave upriver (that is the best part of the trip for 2 1/2 hours), with lunch across the river from the caves.

Back in town early enough to climb up the steps to the top of Phuesi Mountain to watch the sun set. It's in the niddle of town.

The next day go out to the waterfall for a swim, and to just relax. Back in town for good food along the river, and then the night market.

From there catch the morning bus to Phonsavan, and the Plane of Jars. 2000-3000 year old stone jars with ancient history, but nothing exact on who, or why they were made. There are 3 main sites to visit. Another day there renting motorbikes to explore the area, then catch the night bus back to Vientaine, and cross the border on your way back to Khon Kaen.

That is a nice 6-7 days trip without being rushed to see anything, and it will give your dad an excellent trip into Laos.

You can exchange any kip you don't spend back into baht now so there is no worry about getting stuck with worthless money once you cross the border. It is still worthless once you cross the border, but now you can exhange it before you cross.

I was last there 2 months ago, that being my 7th trip in 4 years.

Just a thought.

I travel in Laos very much. Don't worry about changing money. The only thing you will need Laos money for is if you go remote. All the main tourist towns take US dollars' date=' Thai Baht, or Laos kip in that order of preference. If your dad is coming from The USA, have him bring US dollars ($35.00 each for both of you) for the Laos visa. If you pay in US dollars it is $35, if you pay in Thai baht it is bt1500, and at the current exchange rate of 30bt to the dollar, you save about $15US each if you pay in US dollars. Any other money is suspect, and exchanged first, so not worth as much. You get your visa at the border, and a Thai needs a passport, and visa if you go into Laos farther than just on the border towns.

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Thank you for details ja. My dad is absolutely Thai.

I bought two weeks return-ticket from Stockholm to Khon Kaen. Besides my trip to Lao, I also want to spend one week at 101.

tuesday 2nd augusti @Khon Kaen att 13.55

wednesday 3th augusti or 4th augusti @ trip to Vientiane

I don't know if I will make it to Luangprabang. I am afraid I will be too tired. Aparting from Vientiane, Vangvieng seems more realistic now. We will see. I gonna talk with dad about our trip plan.

Well, as my wife told me, you should not go by bus in Lao because it's very dangerous. So consider spending a bit more money and travel by plane (well, as I could experience, landing also is not without adventure). Depends also where you want to go. We went from Bkk to Luang Prabang which is easy and goes by Bangkok Air or so. Visa on arrival is no problem as long as you have your photo and the amount of cash with you. Changing money in Laos is no problem at all. In Luang Prabang, you have a lot of exchange counters (have a look, because you can get some better rates at some stalls), and in Vientiane there are banks, also.

What we did in five days:

Luang Prabang (very nice city, UNESCO World Heritage, takes about one day)

Pak Ou Caves (really to be recommended, a one day trip from Luang Prabang)

Kuang Si Waterfalls (extremely nice, a good half days trip from Luang Prabang)

Vientiane (takes one day or a bit more)

Generally, Laos is very much worth a trip in any case but as I read everywhere, avoid long distance bus trips as they are uncomfortable and dangerous.

Looking forward to seeing some pictures from Lao. Have a wonderful tip, DJ.

It's also worth going south, down to Pakse, Bolaven Plateau and Four Thousand Islands (Si Pan Don in Lao) in the way south. Plenty of huge waterfalls there, and you can go sweet water dolphin spotting as well. Again, as mentioned before, going by bus takes a loooong time, so perhaps not the best option in your case.

If you like Indian food, I highly recommend Nazim's restaurant in Vientiane. It's along the road next to the Mekong. I think they've got another branch elsewhere in town now, but never been to that one myself.

Then of course you've got "Scandinavian Bakery" and the "Swedish pizza and baking house". Since you're just arriving from Stockholm this might not be a treat for you, but I always go to the latter for some meatballs, boiled potatoes, brown gravy and lingonberry whenever I go to Laos for a visa

I agree with Koolbreez that the Plain if Jars are amazing. But it's very far away, so unless you fly in and out it's out of the question. Personally I didn't like Vang Vieng much, but it probably has changed a lot since I was there five or six years ago.

Have fun and enjoy Laos, it's very laid back and beautiful (even if at least Vientiane is getting busier and busier by the minute)!

Looking forward to seeing some pictures from Lao. Have a wonderful tip, DJ.

I will.

@JanisK

Thank u naja. I myself prefer somtam therapy. But I am a bit curious so I will visit Scandinavian Bakery too.

In Vientaine make sure you go to the shopping center across from the bus station. It is the biggest shopping area in Laos with everything there, from refrigerators in the front of the center to traditional herbal medicines way in the back, and everything else in between.

The copy of the arche de triump that the French donated, and built, is the highest view in Vientaine. The climb up to the top is long, but the view is nice for pictures. It's kind of gaudy looking in the middle of Vientaine though.....lolol.

You can take a boat cruise up the Mekong also if you want. They are cheap, and go for however long you want. All the way to China in 4 days if you so choose...hehehe.

VangVien is getting to be like Pai with all the backpackers going there now to float down the river.

Being on the border Vientaine is allot like Thailand on the other side of the bridge. You don't really get into the culture of Laos until you get out of Vientaine. Speaking Lao is close enough to speaking Thai that you won't have much problem at all with people understanding you.

With only 4 days. I would look at LaoAirlines and pick one other place to fly to for 3 days. You can see everything there is to see in Vientaine in one day. You simply go to the airport, and book your flight the same day you want to travel, or you can use an agent in Vientaine for the same price, if you look on the website before hand so you know the prices of the flights. They really aren't that expensive, and for as little time as you will be there it is a good idea to fly somewhere else in Laos.

http://www.laoairlines.com/flights <----just remember when you look at flights, you are flying domestic if you leave from Vientaine...hehehe.

@koolbreeze

Thanks for full detail about Vientaine. My dad now says only Vientiane. No More. Luangprabang has only temples to offer.

We shall see.